Robin Denoir
by awesomebooky
Summary: Robin is sent by his father to recover Maria Merryweather and bring her to Denoir Mansion before she breaks the curse. Will he end up loving this Merryweather? Starts at the beginning and continues past the point of where the movie left off. This is my first fanfic so please dont hate.
1. Chapter 1

Maria. That is her name. The city brat moving into Moonacre Manor. _Maria_ _Merryweather_. Ugh I hate those people. Why can't they just all die? Because of that stupid demon dog protecting them...and that curse. Stupid curse. I curse that curse. Father is having me go after her and try to capture her to bring her back to Denoir Mansion. This will be fun...

I get to London just in time for the despicable Merryweather's funeral. I'm leaning against a column in the pagoda looking out at the scene, a girl with beautiful auburn hair and an old woman. The girl, Maria I presume, drops a flower on top of her father's coffin then goes and lays one on the grave beside it. Just then she turns my way and spots me. I feel a strong hand pull me back.

"Robin! Get back! She spotted you, birdboy." my friend Travis says.

"Be quiet Travis!" I shrugged him off. "It's not like she knows who I am. Plus it was part of the plan." I lied.

"Part of the plan." he says slowly.

"Yes."

"To get caught?"

"No you oaf. To make her paranoid." I grasped from thin air, smirking. I am the master of lies. And smirking. Sixteen years being trained to be the heir to the Denoir throne makes you pick up a few skills, such as lying and charming. Not to mention I am pretty handsome. I mean, everytime I walk by a girl, she swoons. With my curly brown hair peeking out of my trademark bowler hat and my all leather apparel with feathers, I am quite the looker. I jolted back into reality when Travis started pulling me away from the funeral procession.

"What the hell?!" I spluttered.

"Did you not just listen to everything I just said?" he asked, not surprised.

"No." I don't deny.

"I said that I am hungry and that we have time to spare if we are breaking in tonight." I just follow along. I'm used to him always being hungry. Hell i am always hungry, even during a mission. Plus, like he said, we do have time to spare.

We walked right in through the front door, the caretaker, whose name I found was Ms. Heliotrope, was asleep on the couch not aware of our stealthy break-in. We moved upstairs towards her room, opening the door silently. I walk over to Maria's bed, while Travis searches around the room. We are looking for the moonpearls, a magical pearl necklace that grants wishes that the Merryweathers stole over 100 years ago.

I look at the necklace around her neck. No. I let my eyes take her in. Flowing red hair, pale porcelin skin, and petite frame. If I didn't hate the Merryweathers, I'd find her very attractive. I walked back over to Travis and shook my head signaling that I hadn't found anything, and he did the same, so we left just as silently as we came.

The next day, she and her annoying caretaker left the awful city. Me and Travis were waiting at the ready by the gates to Merryweather Manor, where we would snatch the two.

I heard the carriage coming down the old dirt road and me and Travis got into our places. Digweed, the Merryweather's servant, got off to unlock the gate, oblivious to everything going to happen. We jumped at the opportunity. I tried grabbing the petite girl and almost had her out of the carriage when i felt this sharp pain in my hand. I let go to find that the little witch cut me with a sewing needle! She's going to pay for that next time I see her.

The carriage lurched and Travis and I both fell off, him mostly from getting beat up with an umbrella.

I ran to the closing gates and screamed. God is father going to kill me now.


	2. Chapter 2

I got back to the village and decided to go to the dining hall. It was more like a large room with a large table with lots of food and many large pea brains that eat too much. I find my father sitting at the head of the table, like always.

"Father." I greet formally. Father and I haven't had the best of relationships since my sister, Loveday, was banished for falling in love with a Merryweather, Sir Benjamin, Maria's uncle. I try to be as respectful as possible and do whatever he needs so that I don't find myself getting a beating. He has gotten less violent since I've gotten older and am better equipped to handle myself in a fight, but they still happen on ocassion.

"Robin. Where is the girl?" he asks, while looking around for her.

"She got away father." I said trying not to flinch when I saw the murderous look in his eye.

"She got away." he repeated in a calm manner, hiding the anger in his voice, but it still peaked out a bit. Heads turned. "How can a bloody thirteen year old GET AWAY?!" he yelled.

"I am sorry sir. It won't happen again." I said with a straight face concealing my emotions. I've gotten good at this too.

"It better not, or you will see to the consequences." he growled. I just left then after a curt nod of my head, and went to my room.

Tomorrow. I will get her tomorrow.

Travis, a few of my gang and I were out checking the traps, our most boring chore, when I heard a sound. It was the girl. I waved my hand at them, telling them to stay back and walked out into the clearing.

"One trap two catches." I said making her spin around and face me with a look of surprise. "What is it with girls and animals? Always coming to the rescue?" the rest of the boys took that as their cue to enter. One of them, Darian, went and grabbed hold of one of her arms.

"I know what you are. You are theifs and plunderers." she spat at us, earning a few oooohs from the guys. I got up in her face.

"Take her." I directed to Darian. "My father is just_ dying to make your aquaintaince_" I said in my best mocking accent. Just then, I saw a pair of glowing red eyes coming from the forest.

"DEMON DOG!"

"ROBIN LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" They all screamed and ran. I stayed put trying to stand up to the demon dog, Wrolf. The mutt growled at me.

"ROBIN" I heard again, turned and left the clearing, and the girl.

We were running through the woods, full speed and we heard galloping hooves.

"Robin it's your father." Travis said. Ugh. Great. Second chance is thrown out the window and I doubt he'd give me a third.

He galloped up to me and looked at me with disgust. "What did I do to earn a prized dolt as a son." He spat and galloped away.


	3. Chapter 3

We were all sitting at the table eating dinner, when I decided to tell father the plan I've been developing all day.

"Father, I have a plan to snatch the Moon Princess right from under Moonacre." I start

"Do not go near there. That house is damned." he cut me off, "Besides, we have a visitor." he looks up. I follow his gaze and find Maria at the end of it.

_We've got you now girl. _I thought to myself. They took her down the steps, her struggling the whole way down. She's got spirit, you have to admire that. They push her to her knees in front of my father and she rips one of her hands free and opens her fist. Inside she has the lost key. I smirk.

"Oh! Look at what she brought us here! The lost key. You think we've had the moon pearls this whole time don't you girl?" he asks. He walks over to where the pearl casket was, right on the tomb of Sir Denoir. One of the men, Billy, i think, is man-handling her, so I decide to take her from him. I can't have her hurt.

"The pearl casket" she breathed. I have to admit, she is beautiful. Her red hair cascading down her sides and that fiery sparkle in her eyes. I am ripped back into reality when Couer starts talking again.

"Let's see," he said with both the casket and key in his hand. He drops the key and opens the empty casket.

"Well then it's true!" she spits,"you're ancestors stole them!" she said.

"MY ANCESTORS" he roared, "DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE TO TAKE THEM BEFORE YOU BLOODY MERRYWEATHERS STOLE THEM! TAKE HER TO THE DUNGEON" I started to pull her away.

We, my posse and I, led her down to the dungeons. I had my hand on her arm the whole time, and I realized that I liked having it there, but I couldn't let that show, so I gave her a final push. She turned around and spat at me "Don't touch me, you oaf!"

"For someone in your predicament, you have to admire your spirit." I said. She then kicked me in the shin, pretty hard I might add. I went down, grasping it, trying to stop the throbbing. When I recovered, I grabbed her and shoved her into the dungeon then closed to gate. She looked gorgeous with the door's cut out heart perfectly shaped around her pretty face..._Robin! Stop thinking like that! She's a Merryweather! And the Moon Princess! _I shook my head and waved to her, in a mocking way. I heard the boys say stuff like "Have fun making friends with the cockroaches" and "Sweet dreams" I turned around and left with my posse.

I am walking around the market looking for something to do and I hear yelling. I look around for the commotion because the market is usually peaceful, and I see Maria...in her undergarments...running from the guards. I take off at a sprint after her, finally cornering her against a wall on the side of the property. She steps up onto the ledge.

"What are you going to do now, Princess?" I ask smirking, knowing she's caught, when suddendly shse falls backwards and lets out a shriek. I run up to the edge and look down at her rolling down the hill and I run to go after her.

We set off searching for her running through the woods when I hear my father catch up.

"I want her found and brought back. Then, I want her dead." he said with fury evident in his voice.

"Stupid girl, should've stayed where you were." I muttered under my breath secretly fearing for what my father'll do to her.


	4. Chapter 4

We rushed through the woods in search of Maria. I have to admit, she runs fast...for a city girl. We were right on her trail running faster and faster. Travis was tracking her, it is his specialty after all, tracking. I stopped and back-tracked though when one of my friends yelled "Robin! Over here!" I looked back and jogged over to where he was standing. A branch jutted out into the pathway, but he wasn't looking at that. On it was a blue hair ribbon. Maria's hair ribbon. I yanked it off and put it in my pocket. I don't know why I kept it but I felt like I had to, or something. I ran to the front of the group once more and took off on a sharp left and yelled "This way!" We were off to find Maria.

* * *

We ended up in the clearing overlooking Merryweather Manor, watching as Maria escaped with the demon dog, Wrolf. Strangely though, I heard a swat like something was thrown to the ground with a lot of force. I looked into the forest to see my father on his horse, Jet. He seemed furious as he gazed at the scene placed before him. I saw more than heard him mumble something before shooting off back to the castle. My posse and I, defeatedly, started to make our way back too before the sun set.

* * *

We got back right as the sun set, so we were plunged into darkness, the only light was from the gaslamps small illumination. I trudged back up to my room and plopped down on my bed, exhausted after the days' efforts. I put my hand into my pocket, when I felt a silky piece of fabric running through my fingers. I pulled it out only to find that blue hair ribbon. I knew that it was Maria's without a doubt because I don't know anyone else who wears hair ribbons here in the first place. I studied it in the light. It shines when the light hits it a certain way, _like her eyes do_. It was soft and smooth, _like her skin_. (Don't get all freaked out on me, I only noticed when I had to drag her places, geez) and it was unique, like Maria. Wow. I sound like a girl. And plus I don't even like Maria, she's stubborn and spoiled and prideful and a Merryweather. _That didn't stop Loveday though, now did it? _SHUT IT! I told that voice in my head.

I think I should explain. Loveday is my older sister. Father kicked her out when she fell in love with Maria's uncle, Benjamin. That was when I was 5. I haven't seen her since, but I know she's still there, she couldn't just leave. I had always wondered where she went and what she did with her time. I searched for her for a little while, when I got older, but I couldn't find her anywhere. I had heard that Benjamin didn't even marry her after she told him who she was. But I had also heard that he went to great lengths to find her after she ran away and he had time to think.

I just stared at the ribbon thinking for the next hour or so. Thinking about life in general, and my father, my dear sister, the Merryweathers, and the curse. I felt myself drifting in and out of sleep when I woke up with being conscience enough, I looked down at my hands and noticed the ribbon, still entangled in my fingers. I folded up the hair ribbon and reached up to my head. I pulled off my hat and put the ribbon inside, so I'd always have it, just in case I needed it.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Guys I'm so sorry that it's been so long since my last update, but I've been traveling a lot (not wanted by me) and I haven't had internet access. So here's the next chapter._**

**thanks, awesomebooky**

* * *

It has been a while since I last saw Maria, and I thought of her every night before I went to bed. It wasn't because I liked her, it was because I saw her ribbon in my hat and I wondered if she knew it was missing.

My father has been going nuts trying to find her, but Benjamin keeps her locked away in the Manor, so that we cannot find her. He has sent search party after search party out just on blind faith that she left the confines of Merryweather Manor and went into the forest. Personally, I think he has just lost his mind. I mean, I get why he wants to kidnap the Moon Princess, but I'm starting to see that it might not be good if we keep her from getting the moonpearls. The curse says that the valley will be destroyed, right? Well doesn't the valley include the Denoir Mansion? If you really think about it, we would be destroyed as well, so why do we want to stop the curse thing again?

My mind was shaken out of it's reverie when I got to the next trap in my route, there is a hare in it. I go towards the trap ready to take the hare, when I see Maria walk out from behind a tree on the edge of the clearing wearing a red gown. _Hm her wardrobe is finally starting to look practical for the forest._

"Princess," I take out my dagger, "giving yourself up. How good of you." I smirk at her. She just stands there smiling and giggling at me. Then, she reaches behind the tree and pulls on a rope that snatches me by the feet and sends me dangling upside down by a tree. I do the thing most people would do and yell.

"The great trapper, trapped!" she says still giggling.

"Let me down little witch!" was my furious reply.

"Certainly" she says. I watch her as she walks toward my helpless body and picks up my dagger that I had dropped. She walks back toward the rope and is about to saw the rope.

"NO DON'T YOU DARE"

"No?" she asks naively.

"Ow ow my foot." I whine while she goes over to the trapped hare and releases it whilst muttering something to it. All the while I'm grunting in pain trying to get her attention so she'll let me out of this agonizingly painful trap. "UGH please" I beg, "ow ugh a" I say. She turns to leave the clearing, NONO my mind screams.

"Wait, ugh, this is just really painful...ugh I can feel my head swelling." I whine to her.

"Oh no. It was like that before." was her reply. She starts to walk back to me and I whimper. "I will let you down, if you do one thing for me."

"WHAT?" I spat.

"Just promise me you will listen." She says. I'm befuddled. "Just say 'I promise'" she tells me. I stay silent. "Just say it!" she exclaims back at me clearly annoyed.

"I promise." I relent. I'm still extremely confused. She trapped me and has me in a comprimising situation where she can get me to do just about anything, and all she wants me to do _is listen. _"All right you beat me. Now let me down."

"Very well" and she saws the rope which drops me. On my head. "OW AHHH" I exclaim. I hear a bark and grab my hat, then quickly get up and try to escape before the demon dog gets here. I look up to see a dagger in my face, my dagger. The dog walks up to her side, it's eyes glowing red and staring at me, forcing me to stay where I am.

"What about him?" I ask her gesturing to Wrolf, whilst panting. He barks and she pets him.

"You're a Denoir. He very probably _will_ hurt you." she drops my dagger, so that I can grab it and smirks at me. She keeps smirking at me and I don't like it. Only I can smirk at everyone. I slowly reach down and grab my dagger off the ground, step over to a log, sit down defeatedly and put on my hat. She's silently staring at me, so I turn around.

"I'm listening." I tell her.

She smiles at me and proceeds to tell me all about her plans and how it is so important as to find the moonpearls in time. She even points out what I was thinking about before I was trapped on my route around the forest.

* * *

After she finishes, I get up and start to walk away when I hear her again.

"Robin, please" she begs me. I turn around and see her pleading eyes. It almost breaks me. Almost.

"I promised I would listen." I shrugged, "and I have." I said as I turned back around slowly, wanting to keep her in sight.

"Robin! You have to help me! You _have_ to!" she begs me spinning me around to face her in the process. I grab her by the shoulders roughly and look her in the eyes.

"You are a Merryweather." I state the obvious and Wrolf, who has been fine barked roughly at me, but I ignored it trying to get Maria to see my reasoning. I did though, let go of her. "Right now I ought to kill you" I said my throat closing up at the last words. It was then that I realized that I really did not wish to kill the feisty red-headed Merryweather.

"Kill me and the whole valley dies with me!" she says forcefully. "You and I can stop it and we only have until moonrise." she says softly. "TONIGHT" she says and starts to walk away yet again. I stand there like an idiot, an internal battle waging inside me because I really do want to help Maria, but father will kill me if he finds out. My walls come down.

"I'm still listening." I say. I turn around and watch her as she slows to a stop. I can just feel her smiling as she continues on her journey, but this time, I'm right there with her.


	6. Chapter 6

We kept walking through the forest when I remembered the ribbon. Perfect! I took off my hat and retrieved the ribbon. I then walked off of the path, with Maria's eyes watching me curiously. I tied the ribbon to a branch of the nearest tree then quickly made my way back to Maria.

"What was that?" she asked sweetly.

"A false trail." I reply back simply. She doesn't respond for a few seconds and I glance at her. She is shaking her head slightly.

"What were _you_ doing with one of _my_ ribbons in your pocket?" she looks at me. I don't answer, just turn my head to find her smiling at me, so of course, I smile back. We continue on our journey until I realize that we have no idea where we are going.

"So, Maria, where are they?" I ask.

"They're in a tree, but it's very distinctive. It has massive roots twisting around a big, dark hollow. And-"

"I know where that is." I cut her off. She turned around to look at me and I lifted my head from the ground I was staring at to look at her too. I rested against a tree and was thinking. I turned to her and started speaking what was on my mind. "Suppose, for a moment I do decide to help you, and suppose we actually manage to find the pearls, what then?" I ask her.

She just looks at me, her mouth opening and closing like she wants to say something, but doesn't know what to say. "Well..." she starts, "umm, we'd...return the pearls to the sea and then we'd go and-"

"You know my father's coming after you?" I ask her, whilst cutting her off again. Gosh I have to stop doing that, but I needed to have her know the stakes. She just leans back against the tree and sighs.

"Well it's just a matter of finding them before he finds me." she stated confidently. I have to admire her confidence, she has a whole clan after her and she still doesn't care. I turn away in my own daydream and keep walking. I notice Maria isn't behind me, so I turn back around and gesture for her to follow me. She smiles largely, her smile lighting up her face. _She should smile more often_. I think to myself as she catches up to me and we walk on together.

* * *

"It's through the clearing and over the next hill-" I told her. Wrolf runs ahead of us, eager to get there.

"Wrolf!" Maria calls to him.

"-We're not far now." I finish. Maria starts to jog after Wrolf still calling his name. I'm looking back hoping no one notices us or is following us. Maria gets pretty far ahead of me and is still worried about Wrolf even though he is a demon dog. Suddenly I hear a grunt and the next thing I know hand are wrapped around me and a hand is covering my mouth as I am dragged behind a tree. Maria stops calling Wrolf's name and I know she has realized I've gone missing. I'm struggling and struggling trying to get free to help Maria and tell her it's an ambush and to run. "Robin" I hear her ask. I have a knife to my throat and can't move. It's one of my father's men. Of course. "Robin!" she calls again, I hear her start to move back to towards the tree and I start whimpering. She can't come back! They'd capture her and kill her! Oh how badly I want to yell out to her.

I then hear the crackling of tree branches and a whimper that isn't mine. I think it's Maria at first, but then I realize it was too far off to be hers. "Wrolf?" she questions quietly. She's scared now. I can hear it in her voice. I don't want her to be scared, I want her safe, but I am trapped too. His barks can be heard from this far off. "Wrolf?" she whimpers. "Wrolf?!" she yells and runs off as another of my father's men jump out from a bush at me.

"Let's go boy!" one yells at me while the other takes my dagger. "Oh!" I say when he takes his hand off of my mouth, but then he quickly replaces it and they both drag me off. _Maria. Dear lord Maria. Is she alright? She needs to hurry and run before they get to her._ I think to myself frantically. I stumble on the ground. "Come on!" they yell at me, all the while I'm struggling. We reach two horses and they tie me up. "Up you go" they yell and throw me onto the horse, quickly getting on after me and riding to a spot in the forest. They take me off the horse and tie me to a tree. A few feet away I can see a whole in the ground. Two midgets are laughing at a black thing inside of it. Wrolf! I realize. He is trying to get free, but he keeps missing by the smallest bit each time.

More horses ride up and a man atop a black horse jumps off, it is my father. I look at him, disbelief in my eyes. "Well this is pretty." He says sarcastically when he walks up to me.

"I can explain" I tell him, choking on the words as my throat closes up.

"Is it not enough for one member of my family to betray me?" he asks "Now I find that her brother is a traitor too." he says. I shake my head at him, looking at him with pure disgust. "I will take care of this _princess_ myself." he spits out the word princess. "_Once and for all._" he finishes. My disgust suddenly changes to fear, not for myself, but for Maria. She doesn't deserve this. "Lets go" he yells at his guards and leaves.


	7. Chapter 7

I stand there thinking of ways to escape and go find Maria. I need to warn her she is in danger. I'm struggling against the two guards yelling and screaming, trying to get free with all my might. They knock off my hat, I hear a gunshot sound not long after. "MARIA!" I scream. Wrolf jumps once more, this time making it out of the whole that entrapped him. He starts barking viciously at the guards holding me down until they slowly back away from me. I grab my dagger that one of them happened to drop in fright and ran ahead of Wrolf.

"C'mon Wrolf! We have to find Maria!" I yell at him and we run off. I hear another gunshot and my mind immediatly thinks Maria. As I cower down, because of reflex, I hear a howl coming from behind me. I turn around, "Wrolf" I yell back. I am worried now, but even more so when I hear Maria scream shrilly. I race off toward her the only thing on my mind is that I need to save her. I run down a hill towards where I thought I heard her scream and bump into a frail body and stumble. It's Maria. She turns around, anger evident in her eyes and yells at me.

"YOU! How could you betray me like that?!" she yells and trys to swing a punch, but I catch her arm before she can touch me and spin her behind me as I hear my father say my name.

"Maria, wait." I say softly but forcefully. She looks at me with surprise in her eyes and I turn around and put my blade to my father's throat. I look him in the eye. "I will not let you take her father." I tell him.

"Put the knife down boy." is his response.

"Father please." I tell him fiercly, "You have to listen to what Maria has to say!" I scream at him still holding my gaze.

"TRAITOR" he spat out in my face, "You are nothing to me now." Ouch. That hurt a lot more than I thought it would. My own father rejects me as a son. Oh well, Maria means more to me now, and she is going to save everyone. I come out of my thought, push forcefully away from the Couer and grab Maria's hand.

"Let's go!" I yell at her.

"I'll know where to find you!" The Couer yelled at us. I put away my dagger and let Maria get in front of me, shielding her from my father. "Back where it all began." he growled.

Whatever that meant.

* * *

We ran through the forest quickly, the other Denoir's on our trail. "Hurry! They're right behind us!" I told Maria. I looked back, still running.

"COME ON!" one of them yelled. Maria slowed to a stop in front of a tree. "In here" she said out of breath as she ducked into the gnarled roots of a tree. I looked back and quickly followed. We crawled through the tree's roots until we came to a door. "Robin look at this!" She whispered excitedly running her fingers over the door, her eyes sparkling with happiness. She opened the creaky door slowly and we went inside. It was amazing! There was a large bed and a fireplace, plus statues and the way the light was coming in through the roots was beautiful. Marveled, I looked around. "Where are they?" Maria mumbled to herself and we started searching. She looked through the trunk and came out with an old, but beautiful white dress and she held it up to herself. "It's hers. It must be." she stated and gave me the dress. I looked at it and neatly folded it and put it back while she looked around with wonder on her perfect face. "Where? Where did you put them?" she asked the air as she made her way to the fireplace. She pulled down on a horses head and a secret passageway opened up. I rushed over and looked up at her. Wondering how on earth she knew to do that. We both quietly laughed and I ducked into it.

I moved the branches away and saw it was like a long corridor, but I couldn't see a light coming from the end. I went back into the room and looked back at Maria. She had a smirk on her face as she reached out to a statue and grabbed the necklace off of it. They shimmered and glowed with her touch. She turned back to me, the pearls in her outstreched hand and I grinned widely. The Moonpearls! We found them at last! "The Pearls!" I said excitedly to her.

"Arghhhhhh" We both turned our heads at the sound coming from the opening. I ran to the door, closed it and sealed it off with a piece of wood I hoped was strong enough. We then both raced to the passageway as it was now our only way out. "Robin! Let's go!" she told me. I closed the stone door behind me as I heard a crash of the door. "Argh! WITCHCRAFT! I DON"T BELIEVE THIS" we heard him yell.

We turned around toward the passageway and started our way toward saving Moonacre.


	8. Chapter 8

Maria started walking through the darkness following the passageway. I couldn't even see 2 feet in front of me. "It's so dark in here" I exclaim.

"Moonpearls, we need your power now. Show us the way." Maria says. The pearls start glowing. I hear her gasp and I finish climbing up beside her. I struggle with the climb. "Robin, shh" she says back to me. I just stand there like a dumb person watching the moonpearls glow. _That is so cool. I wish I could do that._ I think to myself because seriously. It's cool. She just keeps walking down the passageway, lighting up our way.

I look around the passage at the walls, the stone has all of these cuts and gashes hidden in it's sides. You can also hear trickles of water fall from the ceiling onto the cold floor. We just keep walking and walking and walking. "We're lost" I tell Maria. She ignores me, of course and just keeps going. "Maria." I say trying to get her attention again.

"Robin come on!" she says turning back to me with a small grin spreading across her face as she turns back aroung to stare at an empty passage. "Don't you see? She's showing us the way." What? Who is she? And how is _she_ showing us the way? I want to say to her, but I bite my tongue to refrain from talking. She follows the passage she was just staring at and we start to hear bickering. Maria immediately starts running, me right behind her. It brings us out onto a stone ledge of a row of seats to an ampitheater. "STOP!" she shouts at her Uncle and my Father. "NO UNCLE NO!" she yells.

"Father, we got them." I tell my father all while rushing down the steps. She holds out the pearls for them to see. "Look" she exclaims.

"Maria, thank heaven" Benjamin, her uncle, says upon seeing her.

"Give me the pearls!" my father growls and Maria snatches them away before he could get his hands on them.

"Those damn pearls." Benjamin says to my father, the Couer. "They've brought us nothing but heartache and grief." he tells him.

"No Uncle." Maria says boldly. We all look at her confused. "It is not the pearls, but the greed in our hearts, which brings us this misery." she goes on to explain viciously. All men, including their servant Digweed, just looks at her in shock, her Uncle's though, is pleading.

"Father" I hear a loud voice exclaim. _Great more people._ I think, but then I turn around to see a blonde female which is my sister, Loveday. "Why is there so much greed in your heart?" she asks him as he looks upon her with a heartbroken face.

"My daughter." he finally says. She looks toward the moon which I have just now noticed is absolutely giant. THE CURSE. Oh no. Loveday thinks the same thing and rushes toward our father. "Don't you want to be free of this darkness imprisoning you?" she asks him pleading. My father immediatly turns and points and accusatory finger towards Benjamin. "It is he!" he yells "It is he who..." he yells and is cut off by Loveday yelling "FATHER" she rushes in front of him, stopping his advance on Benjamin.

"Benjamin" she says next reaching out a hand for him to take. I just watch on curiously, wondering what she is up to. She then takes both of their hands and Maria runs over with the pearls knowingly. Loveday takes the pearls from her and drapes them across their intertwined hands. She steps away and Maria takes her place immediatly looking at my father then the moon.

"Look." she says looking to Benjamin this time. "The 5 thousandth moon. The curse it's coming true! If you can sacrifice your pride we can save our families. We can save the valley." She tells them both with confidence in her voice whilst looking back and forth between the two men. I am giving a pleading look to my father urging him to just do what she says, to trust her like I did.

"You first." Benjamin says to my father.

"No, no, after you" they say as if trying to be polite, but with venom leaking out into their voices. Maria just takes a deep breath while looking upon the two with a sort of hatred in her eyes. She drops their hands, grabs the pearls and walks away from them.

"I must do this myself." she says walking out to the ledge clearly annoyed from that display the two grown men just displayed. I don't even watch her go up at first, but my eyes slowly make their way to her as she reaches her hand up in a sort of offering gesture with the moonpearls. "At the 5 thousandth moon, I, Maria Merryweather, Moonprincess of Moonacre, do remove the curse that darkens this valley. Take back what is yours!" she yells as she thrusts the pearls out to fall int othe sea. They stop in midair and fly back to her. We watch in awe and are so confused, and I can just tell that she is puzzled too as she rips the necklace apart, separating the pearls. She flings them back toward the sea again, and this time when they come back to her, they attach themselves on her dress. I watch as she tries to remove them, but they don't do anything. She stops trying with her head bowed down thinking. I see her turn back slightly and give us a shy smile then turn back around. I didn't return the smile like I usually would because I could feel something was wrong, especially when I saw Loveday's hands fly up to her mouth, her eyes already glistening with tears. Maria takes a step forward.

"NO" I yell as I see her fall off of the cliff and plummet into the ocean. I race to the edge yelling at Maria faintly hearing other voices do the same. I reach the edge first screaming out her name and all I see when I look down is her dress flowing in the wind and her beautiful hair flying behind her, then the splash she made upon entering her icy death. I am about ready to jump off myself to try and save her when I felt a strong hand on my shoulder and turn my head to see my father. I'm holding back my tears hoping she is still alive. I think that I was starting to really like her as a friend, maybe more, but it doesn't matter now. She's gone. My father makes me stand up and as I get up there is a sudden burst of bright light coming from the moon. _The curse is coming true._ Is the first thing I think, but a second later, after I can see again, I realize that she saved us in time and we won't die. But she did.

Suddenly a huge wave started to form. In that wave I think horses were forming and galloping across the water. Call me crazy but that is what I saw. The lead horse though, wasn't a horse. It had a horn on it's head as it galloped ahead of every other horse in the sea and on it's back was a dark amidst the white of it's hair. I stood there with my mouth open staring at the wave as it crashed against the cliff bringing water up over it's edge. By that time, we had all backed away from the edge in awe. We all cowered when the water splashed, and when the mist cleared, the unicorn was standing where Maria had been before she jumped. She was on his back. We all stood gaping at her on top of the unicorn, I think everyone was shocked by the unicorn, but I was shocked by Maria. She looked gorgeous with her hair cascading down in waves and her dress flowing behind her. She stirred from the unicorn. "Maria" I shouted in relief with Loveday following my actions just seconds later. Maria looked around confused then looked at us with a smile spreading across her beautiful face. I walk over to my father who shows relief too, while her Uncle and Loveday go to her to get her down. "Sweet child, you're alive" her Uncle says relief evident in his voice, too.

"Uncle" she says then engulfs him in a hug. She then goes to the unicorn and strokes it and kisses it's nose, probably thanking it. She makes her way to me from there. "Were you worried Robin?" she says smirking. Again with the smirking Maria!

"No" was my reply, but we all knew it was fake when I couldn't meet her eyes, and the fact that I was about to jump off of a cliff after her. "Anyone could've done that" I add with a smile on my face as I finally meet her eyes. Loveday gasps in mock surprise and hits the back of my head and Maria just smiles and giggles that cute giggle she has. _Robin stoppppp thinking likkeeeeee thattttt. _She then hugs Loveday and when they break away they look at each other and a sort of understanding passes through their eyes.

"You're the true moonprincess" she says to her. Then I hear a roar and Loveday gasps from surprise when a black lion emerges from the entryway, still roaring.

***TO BE CONTINUED***


End file.
